Stories from Yuèyá Quán
by AvaEobane
Summary: This story tells the stories of Yuèyá Quán, the village where Fu, Ling and Lan Fan come from. Expect tears, fights and - of course - romance. LingFan and others
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist but I own the plot and most of the characters in this story.**

* * *

**Stories from Yuèyá Quán**

**Prologue**

There were once four mighty warrior clans in the village next to the crescent moon sea. There was the Wei-clan, loved and feared for the strength and the deadly precision with the weapons the members of this clan wielded with pride. There was the Cho-clan which was less popular but still powerful and influential. They were famous for their loyalty and their tracking abilities. There was the Fan-family, renowned for their kind personalities that covered lethal abilities. They were masters of poisons and their antidotes and rumour had it that they had a solution for every poison which had ever been used in Xing and would be used in the future. And there was the Bo-clan. The members of this clan were excellent in techniques to paralyse their opponents temporarily which gave them a huge advantage.

Of course there were minor families as well, many of them mostly civilians with a few warriors who brought a little bit of reputation to their respective families.

But no matter how important the four important clans were for Yuèyá Quán, the most important family was the Yao-clan because they were of noble blood and therefore the highest ranking members of the community. The village was extremely proud of _their_ emperor, Jun Yao, who was guarding Xing with all his might and they were also proud of the sons and daughters of the village who had chosen to protect the emperor with their lives even if it meant that they would never have a normal life because the job description implied a probability of ninety-seven percent to be killed or at least crippled while serving the emperor.

One of the warriors who had chosen to guard the emperor at any risk was Jun Li, the currently most famous member of the Wei-clan. She had been nine when she had vowed absolute loyalty to her emperor and while her clan had been proud of her, there were still disagreeing voices.

* * *

**Estate of the Bo-family**

**1894**

**Xing**

The Bo-family was celebrating the birth of their heiress, Zhi Bo. The girl was a precious little thing with rosy cheeks, a mob of indigo black hair which she had inherited from her grandfather and greenish black eyes. She was a fragile little thing that had been born a few weeks early but no one in the family wanted to hear anything about this so-called weakness.

The proud grandfather carried his granddaughter through the house, pausing every once in a while to show her something while telling her over and over that all of this would be hers one day. Chen Bo was a former bodyguard of the emperor, Jun Yao, and as a such, he had still quite some reputation. He wasn't the youngest anymore yet he held his granddaughter with great pride and wondered how she would do once she would be old enough to fight.

There was never another option for an heir of this clan. Just like each male member of the Wei-clan would become a warrior while the female ones had the permission to choose, every heir of the Bo-family was trained to be a fighter. They weren't as huge as the Weis and so they hadn't much of a choice. (Furthermore, they had made the experience that former warrior women were less prone to die in childbirth and no one wanted the heiress to die while giving birth to the next heir.) Still, Chen tried not to think about Zhi as a grownup woman even though he wished for her to be beautiful because this would make it easier for her to find a decent husband one day. Right now, he thought about the future ahead of them. It was a future of playing, training and teaching – and he looked forward to this. Unlike others, he had teaching never seen as a burden but as an honour and he was quite happy that he was blessed another time.

"She is perfect," the proud father smiled as he tickled his baby daughter.

"More than that," Chen smiled as he spotted his old friend's grandchildren, Jun Li and Chao, sitting on the stairs. "Looking at this new generation, I have to say that our village is heading towards even better times," he stated amused as he watched how Fu picked up both children at once to carry them over to their grandmother who had looked for them.

* * *

**Estate of the Wei-family**

**Xing**

**1897**

"Father!" the member of the Council of Eldest walked down the hallway to catch up with his father Fu who happened to be head of the clan. "I still disagree with your decision to let her go."

The old man turned around. "I cannot remember that anyone tried to hold you and your brother back when you decided to take the mask," he said smoothly.

"Yes – but we were old enough to know what we were doing. Jun Li is just nine years old. She _cannot_ serve the former emperor the way Cai and I did. She will be killed in a few months and this would leave us without a sufficient heir."

"You have a son, Zan. He would be there to fill the gap her death would leave behind…"

"Father, Chao adores Jun Li more than anything else. Should she find her death this early in her life, I cannot guarantee for his reaction. He is loyal to her in first place, not to the family. And just like Jun Li went to fulfil her father's duty, he might leave to fill in for her … and this would leave us without a proper heir. Lan Fan is just a baby. We could all be dead until she is old enough to be a good leader," the black-haired man said harshly. "We cannot afford such a risk."

"You sound like a fool, Zan," his father said. "Jun Li is fast and talented. I see no risk that she might be killed anytime soon. You should worry about more important things, son, like the question who besides me is going to guard the Yao-prince after you stepped back…"

"Well, seeing that you should be able to protect him for the next six years on your own, I believe it to be fitting if Lan Fan supports you once she is old enough to wield a kunai without killing herself," the former heir smirked. He had taken his brother's death too hard to accept Cai's former position and so Cai's daughter had been made heiress. Jun Li, however, hadn't been able to take this and had applied for a position as Imperial Bodyguard.

"You got better at the game of politics, Zan," Fu stated calmly. "Very well, I accept this decision."

"It looks like you finally live by your own rules, Fu," another member of the Council of Elders said with a faint smile that was barely existent. _"The mission is the most important thing and the life of a single warrior means nothing for it is honourable to die for the Yao-clan. The Wei-clan is superior to any other clan but the Yao-clan."_

Zan Wei had served as a bodyguard for many years and so he was able to read his father's facial expression while the older man failed to do the same. Zan knew that Fu had raged for hours after a member of the Cho-clan had brought back the dead body of Cai, the younger and more talented son, and the council member knew his own father good enough to know that no matter how often Fu claimed to believe in the family philosophy, this belief had gotten heavy cracks when Cai had died and Jun Li had joined the Dragon Warriors.

"Walk with me, Zan," Fu ordered instead of replying to the other member of the council before he headed for the garden. "Do you believe that Jun Li is going to die? Be honest, please."

The man was silent for a moment as he stared into the distance. "I don't hope so," he said, "but there is always a chance that she is tricked. She is young and lacks the experience Cai had. Still, she is talented and I pray that the gift she has keeps her out of the worst. We don't know."

"She reminded me of Cai when he said that he was going to join," a soft voice said as Lan Li strolled over to them. She was a beautiful woman with her dark gray hair and her cold blue eyes which her son had inherited. She opened her fan as she reached her husband and her son and smiled faintly. "There is a fire inside of her … and we can only pray that she will keep it."

"I should have known better than to let her leave for the capital," Fu said darkly. "She is just a kid and she has no clue what she will see when she continues to serve the emperor."

"My half-brother is a strong leader. He won't be foolish enough to allow my granddaughter to die. He values his life a little bit too much than to make me mad at him," Lan Li said amused. She had been a princess from the Ming-clan who had fallen hard for the charismatic young leader of the Wei-clan multiple decades ago and had abandoned her duty and her own clan to be with him. Still, as favourite sister of Jun Yao, she was still well accepted in most royal families.

* * *

**Estate of the Cho-family**

**1905**

**Xing**

Meimei Cho was born on a beautiful summer day and by chance, Jun Li had returned from an exhausting mission for the former emperor and so she was there to be made godmother. She was a young yet skilled warrior and it was normal in Xing to make one promising heiress godmother of another heir to ensure a good relationship between the clans in the future.

During the celebration of the birth of another heiress, a few of the Wei-elders cornered their heiress as she was strolling through the gardens of the Cho-estate and looked down at her with serious facial expressions. "Say, Jun Li, when are you going to marry?" one of them asked. "And you should consider retiring as well. You are not getting any younger and you should focus on producing an heir for the family. You are risking your life and our future right now…"

She glared at him in spite of knowing that he was probably right. "I take care of this issue once I feel that it is time for me to settle down," she said smoothly. "I am only seventeen."

"Well, the elders already searched for a possible husband," another elder said friendly. "In your childhood, you were very close to your cousin Chao and he isn't in a relationship either…"

Her face became a perfect mask of utter disgust. "I hardly think that it would be a smart idea to marry me off to him," she hissed. "Our fathers were brothers after all…"

"It is allowed to marry your cousin, Jun Li," the man said with a shrug.

"I don't care if it is legal. I just say that I won't marry him because we are closer than siblings and I just don't do incest, sorry," she spat. "I don't say that Chao is a bad guy and I am sure that we would produce the greatest offspring ever but … did you notice that he looks like a male version of me? In my eyes, this is a _huge_ turnoff."

She was an heiress after her grandfather's taste. She was beautiful with her black hair and her bright blue eyes and lethal with the blades she hid on her body. She wore a black shirt with black pants made of a finer material than her usual clothes but even without her mask, she was easily recognisable as a bodyguard and not only as a fighter. She would have to work on her diplomatic skill though because in her eyes, most problems could be used with a kunai.

"Ah, the Wei-elders and my father's most trusted bodyguard," Prince Lei Yao smirked as he strolled down the path and smiled at them. He wore jacket made of green silk and dragged his nephew Ling behind him while he grinned widely. "Great to see you without your mask for once, Jun Li," he added before he let go of Ling. "Well, I need to talk with you for a second without your trustworthy elders around you. I hope that you are alright with this, Jun Li."

The smirk on her face was legendary. "Say, the great prince needs my help?" she chuckled.

"Jun Li…" he hissed. "Just come with me and let go of this for once, alright?"

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her away while Meimei still slept in her arms.

"Well," Zan drawled. "This is getting interesting. First I would like to know when we decided to offer her my son's hand in marriage. I cannot remember that I agreed on this."

"Zan, if we don't do this, we might lose them both in a petty argument. The longer she is gone, busy with her mission in the capital, the more the gap between them grows. And one day, he might stop to accept her as his clan head … and this will be when we get in serious trouble. If she had agreed, we might have prevented an unnecessary spilling of Wei-blood."

To his death, Zan would always deny that he had seen the truth in this statement and that he had still acted against it because he had noticed something else as well.

"When exactly did Prince Lei stop calling her Captain Wei?" he muttered as he walked away with a faint smirk on his lips, passing Lady Yao and her escorts. Zan Wei had always been quick to pick up who was crushing on whom.

* * *

AN:

I need more characters, especially:

-members of the Fan- and Cho-clan  
-Wei-elders  
-children of Meimei's generation  
-villagers


	2. Chapter 2

**_Two six year old children and two sixteen-year-old and stubborn teenagers_**

* * *

Out of all his relatives, Prince Ling Yao liked his uncle the most. Uncle Lei was friendly, liked to laugh, knew all the shortcuts to the kitchen, could cook like a genius and was generally the most awesome uncle anyone could wish for. So Ling always trailed behind his uncle when Lei was back in Yuèyá Quán which didn't happen as often as Ling wanted it to happen because his uncle worked in the capital for his brother who was Ling's father and his own father, the former emperor: Jun Yao. But this weekend, Lei had come home and so, Ling was busy.

"How have you been since the last time we met?" Lei asked as they walked through the gardens the village. "Your mother complained that you smashed in another window, little one."

"That was an accident," the boy said as he stared down. "I was trying to sneak into the kitchen but it didn't work out the way I wanted it to. Seems like I need you to help me…"

"You should consider finding a friend," the older prince chuckled as he looked into the direction of two girls who ran away from two boys while they laughed all along. "Friendship is something precious and it would make me sad if you wouldn't be able to enjoy this feeling at least once."

They passed a few young women who were keeping an eye on their younger siblings. The difference between the civilians and warriors was obvious: the formers stared at Lei with coy smiles while the latter merely nodded and bowed their heads to show their respect.

"Why do they act so strange?" Ling asked innocently as they walked on to find their favourite spot. "Some looked like they wanted to eat you while the others just nodded…"

"Which ones did you like more?" his uncle asked instead of answering.

"The ones who nodded 'cause they had awesome swords," Ling said. "Can I have a sword too?"

"You will have to ask your retainer once he comes back from his mission," Lei smirked before he crossed his arms. "Captain Wei, I wasn't aware that you came home as well," he said.

A young woman looked up and smirked in his direction as she threw another kunai at a tree. "I was part of your escort on your way back home," she said as she bowed swiftly. "And I wasn't aware that you would run around in the village without a bodyguard, Prince Lei."

"This is Yuèyá Quán, this is home," Ling's uncle sighed. "What should happen here?"

"Bad things," she chuckled as she threw another kunai over her own shoulder.

"You are probably the only one who is able to beat me in a fair fight," he replied. "Anyway, isn't this little Meimei Cho?" he asked as he looked at the baby who was sleeping in the grass.

"Yes," she said, a little bit distracted before she twirled around to knock a girl in Ling's age gently down. "There you are, Lan Fan," she smiled.

"Your sister," Lei stated as Ling stared at the girl who got up as if nothing had happened. She had dark brown hair and kind brown eyes. She hid behind her sister who picked her up and placed her on her shoulders with ease.

"Yes," the woman called Jun Li said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Grandfather went on a mission and left me in charge of her training. Honestly, if I was any good at training other people, I wouldn't be in the capital anymore," she huffed.

"And this might be better for you, Jun Li," Lei said smoothly and Ling watched in terror how his uncle reached out to poke the woman's stomach. "You heard what the healer said, didn't you?"

"That I should consider being more careful," she snapped as she crossed her arms and raised her chin to glare at him. "But how is being careful supposed to help me protecting the emperor? You might want to consider this sometime, Prince Lei."

"Cold yet beautiful as always, Jun Li," he smirked as he brushed back a strand of her hair while the both children stared up at them, unable to understand what was going on. "I understand now why you are called the Warrior of the Cold among our comrades…"

"This is my cousin's nickname," she said as she pushed away his hand. "And you of all people should remember what I am named, Prince Lei. You heard this name many times after all…"

"Sparring – now," he ordered and dragged her away. "Ling, you stay with Lan Fan and Meimei – I don't want to hear any complains about you, understood?"

"Yes, Uncle Lei," the younger prince muttered as he stared how his uncle left him –again before he looked at the girl. "Say, Lan Fan, do you want to play?" he asked as he bit his lower lip.

"I … I am not allowed to play…" she whispered as she picked up the girl that slept in the grass and held it close to her chest. "When nee-san is training, I need to take care of Meimei-chan…"

"We could play with her!" he suggested as he beamed at her. "Look, we can play that we are her parents and that we need to take care of her! So you follow your orders and you get to play!"

"Why am I supposed to be the mother? Can't I be the guard?" the little girl asked as she tilted her head. "Grandfather says that being a bodyguard is better than being a mother…"

"Well, I think that mothers can be bodyguards as well," Ling said as he grabbed her hand and dragged her down the path. "C'mon, Lan Fan-chan, there is no harm in having some fun, is there? And neither your sister nor my uncle is going to return anytime soon, I guess…"

"Jun Li-nee is very serious about her training," the girl nodded calmly as she followed him.

"But that makes her a strong warrior, right? But I bet if I train a little harder, I could be as strong as she is even though uncle says that I could never be as strong as a professional…"

"A prince doesn't have to be strong because he has bodyguards to protect him if there is trouble," Lan Fan quoted her grandfather. "Um, where are we going to play, Prince Ling?"

"Just Ling will be enough," he said as he grinned at her. "We will play in the forest! Uncle Lei and I built a hut there when he visited the last time. We will play there!"

* * *

"…admit it, I am stronger," Jun Li grinned as she looked down at the prince she had just knocked to the ground with her spinning kick. "There is no shame in losing to me after all…"

"I … I haven't lost yet!" Lei panted before he twisted his leg to slam her down as well and in a flash, he was on top of her to restrain her. "Looks like I win this time, huh?"

She glared up at him while she tried to break out. "Looks like your teacher didn't fail to teach you the basics … and I was careless," she admitted as she slowly exhaled. "Now, let me get up. The stones are poking the injured area on my back."

"You were foolish to take this mission," he said as he kept her in place. "You could have easily died – for a moment I seriously thought that you were dead when I saw you there."

For a moment, she simply stared into the wide blue sky above her. "And just for a second, when the katana pierced straight through me, I was sure that it would be my last moment on earth. There are numbers for people like me. A normal elite bodyguard serves six years, three months, two weeks and three days. I served longer than that and last week, my number came up but by a miracle, I didn't die … and got away with minimal injuries."

"From my point of view, those aren't 'minimal injuries'," he stated darkly. "This looked **bad**."

"So, you sneaked into my room again," she hissed. "This has to stop, seriously."

"You know just too well that I cannot resist the most beautiful woman in whole Xing," he grinned as he pressed a kiss onto her forehead. "Seriously, you were born too pretty for your own good."

"Chao keeps telling me the same thing," she said grimly. "And you probably don't want to be compared to my cousin, huh?"

"Is he still pining after you, my princess?" Lei asked as he stared into her pale blue eyes.

"I hardly think that my cousin's love life is any of your concern, Prince Lei," she said in a warning voice. "You are a prince and I could never forget this but you are overstepping your boundaries there. I am not your propriety and you should remember this because I will always be a free woman … and I would never belong to anyone."

"But rumour has it that your elders are trying to marry you off…" he muttered.

"They have been trying this for quite a few years by now," she said as she sighed deeply. "But I would never marry someone I don't even know. You can rely on my words there, Prince Lei."

Before he got to answer, the alarm rang out and suddenly, their playful bantering was forgotten as they got up and looked around.

"Ling, Lan Fan and Meimei!" Jun Li hissed as she slapped herself. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Seriously?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow. "You are smart but even you cannot predict when the Fei-clan decides to attack us. So calm down and come on … we have to find them before someone else can find them."

* * *

"…good evening, darling," Ling said as he came back into the hut in the forest.

"G-good evening, husband," Lan Fan replied with a slight stutter. "How was your day?"

"Great, just great," he replied. "Me and my comrades killed a few monsters in the mountains."

"That's amazing," she said as she put down a stone that was representing the dinner. "Did you get hurt while you fought all those mean monsters?"

"No, of course not!" he bragged as he sat down. "And how was your day?"

"Calm," she replied. "Meimei was a good girl today – just as always."

"That's good to hear," her 'husband' said with a wide smile. "But what about the shopping trip with your friends? And the mission you took earlier today … the thing with the dragon…"

She looked up and shook her head. "I have to protest, Prince Ling," she muttered.

"It's just Ling, Lan Fan-chan," he said.

"Be it as it may but there is no way that anyone could do this much in a single day," she said.

"But Uncle Lei said that women are amazing creatures who can do more in a day than men," he said as he pouted. "And Uncle Lei is always right because he's an awesome adult."

"But Jun Li-nee said that she is always stressed out after a week in the capital because all the people dump their dangerous onto her and leave her to do this…" the girl said a she rocked Meimei back and forth. "And my sister knows everything because she's an adult too!"

"That actually makes sense," he muttered as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "Lan Fan-chan, I am tired. We should sleep now, alright?"

She frowned slightly but she was tired as well because Jun Li had trained her the whole day and her body asked for a moment of rest. "I agree," she said as she looked around. "But where?"

"Uncle Lei bought this couch for me because he knows that I like to sleep more than training. This is my escape, you see? When being a prince gets too much for me, I can come here and be just a little boy. Uncle Lei says that he had such an escape as well," Ling explained. "It's not far from here to tell the truth but his was only a tree, nothing special."

* * *

"Jun Li!" her slightly obsessive cousin thundered as he saw her running through the village while she dragged the prince along. "Where is Lan-Lan?"

"We are already on the way to get her," she replied as she threw away her training jacket. Underneath she wore a crimson shirt with the Ying-and-Yang-crest of her family on the back. "You stay close to the estate and protect the elders, Chao. Consider this an order of your heiress," she added as she twirled around to stab an attacker. "C'mon, cousin, just do it."

Inside the Wei-clan, many relationships were fragile and easily harmed. The relationship between the elders and the heiress was probably the most prominent example for a bond that often took harm from Jun Li's job in the capital that kept her from representing as a proper heir. Some of the elders had tried to pressure Fu into making Chao the heir because the male cousin was always in the village and had no ambition to take the mask and so he was a good alternative to the rebellious katana specialist.

"Alright," Chao said before he hurried away and disappeared between the houses.

"Impressive abuse of nonexistent power, bird," Lei muttered as he kept following Jun Li.

"First of all: don't call me bird and secondly … well, Chao is the only one who actually listens to me when I give an order," she huffed as she kept concentrating on her sister's chi. "They aren't in the park anymore," she muttered before she blocked another incoming sword attack before Lei killed their attacker. "And I have to admit that our teamwork is still very good," she added.

"It's all a matter of trust in the end," he said before he stared at the forest. "I guess I know where they are," he sighed. "The last time I visited, I built a hut with Ling. He is really proud of it and probably wanted to show off a little bit, I guess."

"I would have guessed that he would have used the palace to show off," she muttered under her breath as she flew up a tree to get a better vision over the whole field. "But I guess that he is more like you than you would ever admit, Lei…"

"Just like you would never admit that you, your cousin and your sister are three of a kind?"

"We are all different!" she snapped. "I fight with swords, Chao uses kunai and Lan Fan is just a child and even in later years she will be the best with her hands and feet."

* * *

Ling felt warm and comfortable inside as he tucked in Lan Fan who had fallen asleep the moment her head had touched the pillow of the huge couch while she still held Meimei who slept as well. He carefully brushed away a strand of her soft dark hair and smiled cheerfully. She was a pretty girl and she was really kind and not as annoying as the girls at home who were always afraid that their clothes might get dirty when they played. No, he liked Lan Fan more than the others because she was really cool even though she was strange because she was so polite.

"G'night, Lan Fan-chan," he muttered as he lay down next to her. "And good night, Meimei."

There was no answer and he smirked as he wrapped his arms around his new-found friend just like he would wrap them around his teddy bear and slowly drifted into his sleep.

* * *

"…grandfather kills me when something happens to Lan Fan, damn," Jun Li cursed as she ran through the forest, not caring for the scratched that had appeared on her face or the risk that her injury might reopen if she kept working her body this hard. "This is among the Top5 of things I should never do unless I want to end up six feet under…"

"What are the others?" Lei asked.

"Getting killed in action, marrying Chao, ending up in a loveless marriage and getting pregnant before I am actually married," she sighed. "I still wonder how he wants to kill me for getting myself killed but it **is** grandfather and he would find ways to make it possible."

"Oh yes, Old Man Fu is still the bodyguard of this village," the prince agreed.

Jun Li huffed. "Grandfather is still great and in fact the best warrior of this village … but he isn't getting any younger and his reflexes slowed down quite a bit along the years," she said softly as she shook her head. "His experience is still helping him a lot but the last time I got him to spar with me, I nearly had him. I never got _this_ close to winning against him before … and it _scares_ me to know that he is … well … mortal and that he will leave us one day."

"You would prefer him dying in action because you just knew him as a strong man, huh?"

"My grandfather was the only true family I ever knew," she said as they got closer to the little hut. "He was always there to wrap bandages around my arms and legs when I trained so hard that the skin got raw and everything hurt … and I just wonder how the family could go on without him there … kindness hidden behind a gruff smile."

"You would be there," he said as he wrapped one arm around her and pressed his lips against her for a moment. "You would always be there for them, huh? Fighting the evil forces in this country and hosting parties in the evening. I am sure that you would make a great job."

"I could never be like him," she said. "I would break if the burden would be on my shoulders. Maybe I am really as selfish as the elders claim and maybe this is the reason why I feel like it would be wrong if I would be made head now."

He nodded slowly before he stopped. "Remember that tree?" he asked as he sighed deeply.

She averted her gaze and stared at the ground. "It was wrong for you to write it into the bark," she complained as her fingertips traced two familiar names which were surrounded by a heart.

"I still don't understand why you have to be like this about … well, us," he sighed. "Are you still that scared that you might hurt your elders' feelings?"

"I am worried about Chao," she admitted as she stared at her own name. "He knows that I could never love him the way he loved me once but … he is still my reflection and everything I do – and this would mean to bring shame over the whole family in our case – would hurt him more than any katana ever could. I love him though I am not in love with him."

"You have been saying this for a year now," he stated calmly as he shook his head. "Where is the big deal anyway? I am supposed to be smart but I just don't see it, Jun Li. I love you and you know it. I feel like using your loyalty to my clan by sneaking around all the time."

"See, it is difficult to explain but people would assume that I sold myself to rise this fast at such a young age," she said. "I love you just as much as you love me, Lei, but … this cannot be."

"So you rather face the risk that they force you to marry someone like your cousin? You know that there always were plans to force you two into producing amazing warrior offspring," he snapped, slightly irritated. "And sure, Chao is probably the second best fighter among us and yeah, he could beat me … but … you love me, don't you?"

"I told you before that he looks like a male reflection of me and that I see him as a twin – and this hasn't changed. I also told you that I love you and not him. Could you please believe me?"

"I just don't get why you don't want me to do this properly," he muttered. "When I would go to your grandfather and ask him for your hand, how would this harm anyone? The village would be still standing afterwards and we could be happy. Why do you keep refusing happiness?"

She shook her head as she kept walking. "Some people just don't deserve happiness," she said. "I am such a person. In my life, many things went wrong and I have blood on my hands. This would never be appropriate for a prince's woman. You should remember this, Lei."

"Jun," he said tenderly. "Still upset about **her** death? You have to get over it, you know?"

She looked down. "You haven't been me when it happened," she said. "You weren't on that hard ground, trying to close the damned wound even though your mind screamed at you that it was too late and that she was already gone. This was the moment I lost the right to be happy - forever. I already accepted that some loves don't end well."

"Bird…" he sighed as he wrapped one arm around her. "Please…"

"Stop trying to put me into a golden cage and I will think about it," she snapped as they finally reached the hut. "No one can catch me, anyway," she muttered as they entered.

"I can still try, can't I?" he grinned as he crossed his arms. "Well, I guess that the kids are safe."

* * *

AN:

**Sun Arose:** I need more names and characters because I have to write a complete village that requires some extra work from my side and I am pretty lazy sometimes^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Ten Extremely Unimportant Facts About The Wei-Heiress Jun Li**

* * *

i.

When she was five years old, she walked up to her father when he cleaned his blades, her hands balled into tiny fists and declared what exactly she wanted to be when she grew up.

(She still doesn't understand why a female bodyguard is so funny.)

* * *

ii.

She hated tea. Unfortunately the rest of her team (especially her cousin) loved it, so she put up with it for their sake and spent her evenings throwing rice at them.

* * *

iii.

Her specialty was the kunai and her weakness was blending in with the crowd. (Her cousin blamed it on her beauty.) She was always at her best when she had something important to protect and at her worst when she was fighting for no reason, just because someone else told her to while she saw no reason in it. (This was why she chose the mask in first place.) She was also the fastest student in the academy – but since she spent her first three months there hiding from her teachers, it took a while for people to notice.

* * *

iv.

Both of her teammates came from her family. They also fought like cats and dogs – big, loud, brilliant cats and dogs – and so she spent a lot of time standing off to one side while her sensei held Chao and the other boy upside-down by their ankles and told them to shut the hell _up_ already.

* * *

v.

Everyone assumed she would be the team healer because of her alkahestry skill. Until she killed her first enemy with a swift kunai and from a nearly impossible angle, she agreed with them.

* * *

vi.

The second best student in her academy classes was Chao with his big booming voice. He would never be more than a simple warrior and everyone knew it, but he told them he would be the greatest among them anyway. Promise of a lifetime.

Jun Li was the only one who didn't laugh because she recognised the determination as her own.

* * *

vii.

When she was fourteen, she took this dream away because she was chosen instead of him.

He told her that she was going to look like a fool in the uniform of a Dragon Warrior and that he would be waiting for her to screw up. Then he tried to punch her and they ended up in hospital – both, because as members of the Wei-clan, both of them didn't know when to quit.

When she was thirty-three, they reconciled.

* * *

viii.

After meeting her daughter's teammates, she thought of Jing as a son, Ping and Lee as little brothers and Meimei, her daughter's sensei, as what she could have been if she had been kinder and gentler. One of her biggest regrets was that she never told them any of this.

* * *

ix.

When she made her decision to return, her grandfather was already dead and the little Fang-boy who was her daughter's teammate was beside her with injuries and burns all along his arms. Min Li and her teammates were out there with the Fei-warriors, fighting back-to-back to stay alive. Somewhere in the village, the Cho-girl was standing on her broken leg and defended her family even though she was too injured to do anything, she simply did because she couldn't quit – just like a true Wei.

* * *

x.

She believed that she was a failure for not protecting the village when it needed her the most.

It would surprise her to know how many people disagree.


End file.
